


Hemokinesis-Control the Blood

by 12oclockAM



Category: Original Work
Genre: Aftermath of Violence, Blood and Gore, Blood and Injury, Bounty Hunters, Crimes, Male Protagonist, Medieval, Mention of Sensitive Topics, Misunderstandings, Murder, OP Protagonist, Snakes, Travel, criminal
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-21
Updated: 2021-01-12
Packaged: 2021-03-10 19:20:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,694
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28212291
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/12oclockAM/pseuds/12oclockAM
Summary: Everyone knows about him. The big, intimidating murderer that has broken thousands of laws in the Kingdome of Haylse. Everyone knows his name, having heard or read it art least a hundred times a week. Vailynn Tarsiquese, also and more often called The Curdler.Everyone lives in fear of The Curdler. Of what rotten, fowl things he may do to whoever he targets next. The guards never catch a wink of sleep, always on watch and trying to protect the people of their kingdom. The guards have never stopped him though; no one has.Let's take a look through his eyes, shall we?(This was made from my own needs to write something. Anyone who is on my page for Homestuck, I'm sorry :/)
Kudos: 1





	1. The Curdler and His Companion

**Author's Note:**

> I'm actually really liking this idea, so if for any reason someone does read this, please tell me your thoughts!

He flicked the pencil between his fingers, making it spin around and travel from in between his index and middle to his ring and middle. The face he's giving his younger sister in front of him can only be described as bored.

"So, The Curdler is what they've started calling me?" He asks, balancing the pencil on the upper joint of his pinky. The twelve year old giggles, nodding. "I mean, duh! Why wouldn't they call you something so spooky? Hehe, _'The Curdler'_! Sounds like you're gonna rip someone's guts out!" She sticks her tongue out in disgust, though a smile is still evident on her face.

The boy sighs, flicking the pencil backwards for it to land somewhere on the floor. He surely won't pick that up later. "You rob a few people, you kill a few pervs, and this is the thanks you get." While Vailynn's voice makes him seem annoyed, he's actually incredibly happy with this turn out. It makes things a lot more fun, even if all of his kills were justified.

Sigh, he can only imagine the excitement of being chased through a forest, watching as his idiot pursuers trip on roots, or hit their head on a low hanging branch. He'll be honest, no one in the kingdom was all too smart. The damn capital was made specifically to host only the snobbiest rich families, who think their butlers and maids that they force to stay up all night will keep intruders like him out.

His sister giggles, hopping up off of her rock and stretching her nimble body. "Welp! I gotta get back to Harrison and Mei-Mei. Wish and prayer that they didn't simultaneously decapitate each other some how." The brother snorted at his sister. Her and her friends have the most interesting of antics, and more than once has he convinced them that a ghost was following them. They hate each other though, which just makes everything more entertaining.

"Be safe, Ninn, and make sure to call me by my given name around them." He reminds, sitting up to grab his cloak and cap. The cap was a bright red, and he thinks his mother called is a fiddler cap. The brim covers his eyes easily as he tilts it down, the top of his cloak covering his mouth all the way down to his shins. The cloak is the same red as the cap, though it has a singular button holding it together somewhere under the upper cuff that covers his face, made with a deep crimson material. It almost looks black.

He steps over to the cave entrance, his black, heeled boots clicking with him. Looking past the many vines that had hidden his temporary hide out, he sees the capital a distance away. It would probably take his sister and hour to make it back to Harrison's house, but he knows she'll be fine. She is _his_ sister, after all.

A throat is cleared from behind him, even though he knows that said throat is barely corporal enough to _be_ cleared. He turns to see Finnian, the shadow demon thingy that has taken an interest in him. Vailynn is surprised that he even got the being's name, seeing as he won't even tell Vailynn his own species. "Lynn, I overheard that you've gotten yourself a title?" Finnian says, following the more human boy out of the mouth of the cave.

Vailynn roles his eyes, though he knows the boy beside hi can't see that from under his cap. "That's _Vailynn_ to you. What if someone heard you call me my name? Then who would you haunt?" The figure snorts, though the other boy just continues. "And yeah, I earned myself a title. Now I have six names, including the real and fake last names, while all you have is 'Finnian'. Bet you feel pretty boring now."

Finnian shakes his head, floating idly along side Vailynn as he climbs a tree, beginning to jump from branch to branch. "Honestly I like my name being so simplistic compared to yours. _Especially_ the name you go by now. Tarsiquese? You fuckin' serious?" Vailynn scoffs, though he enjoys the banter. This is probably the reason he didn't get holy water as soon as he met Finnian. He makes pretty good company.

"Also, you made your name just sound like 'Villain' with an accent. How fucking cocky are you, Tarsi?" The shadow asks, holding in a smile at the glare that gets thrown his way. "You can't just complain about my last name and then never even say it. Also, that was a complete coincidence." It wasn't an they both know it.

It's quiet after that, and Finnian takes the time to observe the strange boy beside him as he has many times before. Unlike what almost everyone thinks, Vailynn was most definitely _not_ a big and muscular man. In fact, he was shorter than most boys his age, fifteen, and incredibly skinny. Almost unhealthily so. Finnian can't really blame the boy for his eating habits, seeing as he can't just go and buy food. Finnian and Ninn are the only one's that know of the boy still being alive, after all.

What makes this boy so strange though is his... well... everything, really. No one has ever spotted him during any of his murders, or break ins, no one has ever looked at him weirdly in public even though he sticks out like a sore thumb in his bright clothing, he has a knack for getting out of dangerous situations, the list goes on. He's just incredibly lucky, is what Finnian has chalked it up to.

There is one more thing though that is definitely worth mentioning.

The fact that he was almost _certain_ that Vailynn was dead when he had met him.

Finnian being the 'monster' he is, of course he feeds on human meat. So he was once wondering the shadows of the allies, in search of a corpse, or lone person that he won't feel too bad about killing, before he sees the former, laying next to a dumpster. He was never as heartless as some of his old companions, so seeing the dead thirteen year old, wounds littering his body with cold blood still oozing slowly out of them, of course he'd be a little sad for the boy.

He had just sat next to the body for a minute, silently paying his respects for the boy. He hadn't heard a heartbeat, the body was cold, the boy wasn't blinking, he was dead. So of course, one could imagine Finnian's surprise when the boy had groaned, sitting up from his slumped position. He looked directly at Finnian, and that was when he knew that the kid was abnormal. No one could see or hear his kind without their permission.

And just like that they had become best friends. Or at least, Finnian likes to think so. He knows they get a long well, but it's always been hard to get into Lynn's head, the fifteen year old only showing his emotions through a flat, monotone voice.

This is how Finnian has picked up small signs from Vailynn. When he's angry, he won't speak at all, and his let foot will tap the floor below it. If he's sad, it's the same thing, but instead, his right foot will tap. If he's excited, or happy, then he'll rock side to side where he stands or sits. If he's scared, worried, or concerned, he'll comb his fingers through his caramel hair, which is incredibly fluffy and sticks out in random directions as it tries to escape from under his hat. It isn't like he has long hair, it's just incredibly puffy.

Right now, he seems to be excited about something, having sat down on a branch and swinging both of his legs back and forth, an alternate from tapping. When Finnian can see the boys eyes, which are a deep crimson with a fleck of white surrounding the iris, they never show anything. You would think he hides his eyes from even Finnian because they're revealing, or he's self conscious, but in all reality he just thinks it makes him look less intimidating to unsuspecting passers. Just a small boy with a two sizes too big hat.

Honestly, Finnian thinks Vailynn is a criminal mastermind, even if he is just fifteen. Finnian himself is seventeen, in human years, but that doesn't particularly mean that Vailynn isn't as smart, if not smarter than him.

Vailynn pulls his crossbow off of his back, gaining the specter's attention again. He loads it, pointing it at a certain direction for a minute before shooting. A yell is heard, and after a few seconds of it, the yelling stops, silence surrounding the forest. Vailynn looks at Finnian. "Eat up."

Finnian really likes his new friend.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Our main two characters have a little situation in the forest. Well, more so Vailynn than Finnian seeing as no one can see him... Too bad for him then, he's missing out on the fun!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To those that look through my acc for Homestuck, and are awaiting for any of my fics to update, I might not have the courage to for a while. My apologies.

Vailynn was sat on the branch of a tree, messing around with his cuticles idly. There were guards headed this way, as Finnian had told him from his lookout below, and he doesn't want to run into them. They don't know that he's the infamous 'Curdler', but if they saw a teenager all alone in the woods, they would most likely bring him to a shelter or something, which he really doesn't think would do him any good.

Finnian hovers up to the branch Vailynn is perched on, sitting next to him. The first few times they were both sitting in a tree together, Vailynn always got so disoriented by the lack of weight Finnian added to the branches. If Vailynn didn't literally see Finnian sitting right next to him, he wouldn't even know anything was there. Well, that and if he didn't feel a wave of coldness from where the shadow is sat.

"They're just about twenty feet North, and there's five of them." Finnian informs, plucking a leaf off of a branch above him and ripping it, satisfied with the feeling of the leaf snapping apart from itself. Vailynn nods in acknowledgment, looking down below just in time to see a few armored knights stepping out of a wall of shrubbery. One of them is holding a wanted poster, and Vailynn isn't surprised to see that it's not of him, but some other criminal. He can't see the picture of the person too well, but he definitely saw quite a bit of zero's in the reward for catching them.

The guard holding the poster groans, crumpling up the paper and dropping it onto the forest floor. "I don't know why the king expected any of us low ranking knights to be able to find him. Zealious is quite literally known for keeping a low profile." Zealious. He doesn't recognize that name.

Another one shrugs, his shoulder pads making a horrid noise as it drags against the outer edges of his chest plate. "Me neither, but think of what we could do with that money! We could leave the guard, own a house with out wives, Gods, we could really do anything with _that_ much money." His voice shows how passionate he is about his ideas for a future with this money.

Vailynn rolls his eyes, but a smile is still evident on his face. Well, somewhat evident; his cloak still covers the bottom half of it, but none the less he's amused. That bounty was nowhere near as big as his was, but these knights are still acting like it's the price of the throne. Obviously a lot of the capitol has given up on trying to stop Vailynn's rampage, other than the few guards that are way too patriotic for their own good.

One of the guards trailing the back, who's been silent the whole time, looks directly up at Vailynn, pausing his steps. Vailynn also freezes, Finnian just grinning evilly, chuckling out loud, seeing as no one but Vailynn can even hear him. The knight beside the one that had noticed the boy pauses as well, seeing Vailynn, and gaining the attention of all o the others.

It's pretty much a stare down for a few, painful, minutes. The one that had noticed him originally clears his throat, stepping up towards the tree. "Young man, could you please explain to us why you are hiding in a tree?" He says, his voice stern but quiet. It echoes slightly in the metal of his helmet.

Vailynn shrugs, thinking up some bullshit reasoning. "I had just fallen asleep up here, but I woke up to you all below me. My apologies if I had seemed like I was eavesdropping." He says, a fake polite tone in his voice. The knight nods, humming. "Would you come down here, then? We could get you back to your parents, it is dangerous out in these woods."

That was very much a lie. Well, to Vailynn it was. The animals in these woods seem to adore him, always popping up at the right times, or letting him pet them without biting his hand off. The only things that put him at risk in these woods was the small chance of Vailynn falling out of a tree, or into a whole. Both of which have never happened, and both probably never going to affect him too much if they _do_ happen.

Either way, Vailynn nods, hopping off the tree with Finnian trailing behind him, still hovering off the ground slightly. "I'm not lost, my parents have a small cottage just outside the forest. I am aware that I'm pretty deep in, but I've memorized basically all of the darn thing." He chuckles lightly, only half lying about what he just told them. His parents always hated the forest, thinking that anyone who goes in there was dead where they stood. That was just because they didn't like animals, though.

Kind of ironic, now that he thinks about it. Because now he lives in the forest, and animals love him.

"Please, allow us to escort you anyways. We were heading out of the forest either way, and we don't want you to get hurt." Another knight that hadn't spoke says, his voice lilted with an accent and as kind as an angel's. Vailynn nods, choosing some random direction and walking that way. He knows that he's now just going even deeper into the forest, but as he had said earlier, he's memorized almost the whole thing. 

The walk is silent for a little while, before one of the guards notice just how long they've been walking for, speaking up with a worried tone. "Geez, just how far away do you live, kid?" This was the one that had dropped the bounty poster, he remembered. "Just a few more minutes away. Who was this Zealious guy you were talking about, anyways?" He asks.

The kind one answers him. "I'm not sure if someone as young as you should have to hear about someone so gruesome, but to summarize; Zealious is a man that has been kidnapping people at random. He leaves clues for us guards a lot, and he's said that there was a pattern in who he kidnaps, but no one has figured it out yet." Interesting.

"Oooohhh~ Sounds like you've got some competition, Lynn." Finnian coos, and Vailynn hums in reply, making it sound like he's replying to the guard. "Not as bad as The Curdler, if my information is correct." Some of the guards hum in agreement, but Finnian just snorts at the boys narcissism.

Vailynn was beginning to feel a heavy weight in his chest, not used to socializing too much with anyone but his sister and Finnian. Whenever he gets like this, he feels like his lungs don't get enough air, and that he's burdening something. The guards don't notice this, obviously, continuing to chat amongst themselves about the bounty they're after.

Finnian does though, and as he sees Vailynn make a minute nod, he goes somewhat behind the guards and allows his weight to show through, stomping on a branch. The guards jump, turning around to try and see what made the noise, and Vailynn runs. His footsteps are silent as he slides under a low hanging branch, hiding in a small hole that is covered by a log.

He doesn't notice that the kind guard had saw where he went, and after a few minutes of the armored men talking of his absence, they split up to go find him, the kind one going directly towards Vailynn. He gets prepared to run, before the knight takes off his helmet, crouching down in front of the log and smiling softly. "You don't really have a home out here, do you?" His English accent some how makes him sound all the more kind.

The boy peaks his head out of the whole, shrugging somewhat. "If a cave counts." He mumbles. He isn't sure why he trusts this man, but something about him just shows that he has nothing but good intentions. He doesn't shudder at the pity in the mans smile.

The man has violet eyes, and has long, blonde hair, stopping just barely above his shoulders. Some of it is pulled back into a small bun on the back of his head. His armor of steel has small purple accents, the others having different colors. He guesses they're a small team of some sorts. "Why did you run? We could have taken you to somewhere safer than a cave." The man says, sitting crisscross as to get comfortable.

"I don't want to be put in an orphanage, or Church. I know how a lot of the kids there are treated." He will admit though, the thought had been appealing to him many times. As easy as he seems to make it, it is a little hard to survive out in the wild when you're as small as he is. His size helps him a lot, and has gotten him out of multiple situations, but it's not really the best for when a larger animal decides that it doesn't like him like it's brethren.

The knight now looks a little sad. "Yes, I know how suffocating places like those can be." He goes quite for a minute, his eyes distant in what seems to be contemplation. He then places his hand into his small, brown satchel, pulling out a small, green gem. He loops it around a peace of loose thread that he snapped off of the bag, fashioning a necklace, and hands it to Vailynn.

"I have another one of those gems that are linked to that one. When your heartbeat becomes too slow, unhealthily slow, mine will begin to blink. The same will happen to yours if my heart beat does the same. Don't question how I would find you, but definitely hide that gem away under your cloak. It's best that they aren't seen by the wrong person." Vailynn nods slowly, putting on the necklace and tucking it under his cloak.

At the distant voices of the other guards, the man places his helmet back on. "I will come back to this exact spot later tonight with some food, but don't feel pressured to come back here." Before Vailynn could reply, the man is walking away. He distantly hears that same man saying in a sad tone that he didn't find the boy, talking about how worried he is for him.

After a little while longer, all of the knights walk past the log and deeper into the forest, the kind one sending one last glance behind him before they are out of sight.

Vailynn let's out a breath he didn't know he was holding, scurrying out from under the log and wiping the dirt off of the red of his cloak. Finnian floats over to him, holding a crumpled piece of paper he recognizes to be the wanted poster of Zealious. Looking at the drawing, the man seems to be rather muscular, with elven ears and clothing. His hair is long, pulled up into a pony tail, and a jewel hangs from the cartilage of one of his pointed ears. He has an incredibly intimidating battle axe on his back as well.

What really confuses Vailynn is why they drew him smiling. Any and all bounties he's ever seen, even of himself, has the criminal looking straight forward with a completely stoic face. All Vailynn could guess for this is that the man is only ever seen smiling.

"He looks cool as shit." Finnian mumbles, and Vailynn has to agree, this guy looks like a badass. Vailynn tucks the bounty into his pocket, deciding to keep it for later. He knows his new mission now; find this Zealious guy and become allies. The last thing he wants it to be on the bad side of someone like him, especially if his bounty is five billion gold.

Thinking back to the kind English man, Vailynn wonders about his words. 'Don't question how I would find you' and 'It's best that they aren't seen by the wrong person' are two incredibly eerie sentences. The boy still trusts the man though, but with no reason why. Something about the blonde knight just adds an overwhelming feeling of safety to the young boy.

"So are you gonna meet up with the knight? He seems nice." Vailynn hums. "I think he's a fatherly type of person, sees any child at risk of harm as one of his own, you know?" Vailynn asks, and Finnian nods. After a moment of silence, Vailynn decides that yeah, he'll wait here for the man.

Finnian and Vailynn pass the time by trying to mimic the birds that had landed next to the human boy. Finnian whistles the same tune as the birds flawlessly, and Vailynn swears to the Gods that the birds laugh at him and his failed attempts. It's a few hours later that the sun sets, Vailynn and Finnian laying on the forest ground next to each other silently, awaiting the mans return.

The snap of twigs and the rustle of bushes is what makes Vailynn sit up, turning his head towards the noise. The blonde man emerges from the bush, now wearing purple robes and light grey boots. Before Vailynn could greet the man though, another person follows him out of the bush, this one he doesn't recognize, though he has a hunch that it's one of the other knights.

Vailynn looks directly at the kind man, feeling somewhat betrayed at the fact that he brought someone else with him, but the man just chuckles. "Sorry kid, but don't worry. Yuulgen here knows how the orphanage is, he wouldn't bring you there." The man behind him snorts, though his face stays impassive. "Don't make me seem so soft." His voice is deep, and his mumbling makes it even lower.

The boy recognizes his voice to be the one that saw him in the tree earlier. The man is intimidating, he'll give him that much. They all sit down, the blonde one making a small fire. "So, now that you don't have to worry too much about the others, what is your name?" He asks, placing his hands in his lap politely. This makes Vailynn pause. He can't say his disguise name, due to it being incredibly well known, but he also can't say his real name. His quote unquote 'death' was pretty popular for about a month or two, seeing as no one could find out who or what did it.

"I'd like to keep that undisclosed." He says instead. The man gains a sad look in his eyes, but a gentle smile is still evident. The other man speaks up. "Well, you know that I'm Yuulgen, this is Tentrus." The kind man, Tentrus, waves. "So, how long have you been out here alone?" Yuulgen asks, leaning on one of his hands. The man has short, curly black hair that almost covers his eyes. He's wearing a green coat over a white dress shirt, black pants and black boots. His skin is a darker tone than Tentrus's, which is a pale pink, bordering a caramel brown. His eyes are a deep brown, and he's tall, with more muscle than his companion.

Again, slightly intimidating.

"I think about..." "Two years." Finnian supplies. "Two years." Vailynn repeats. Again, Tentrus's face is just flooded with concern and pity, and it reminds Vailynn of when he had a fever and his mom was watching over him, nursing him back to health.

He misses his mom.

"Alright," Yuulgen continues. "Is there anyone else with you?" Vailynn shakes his head. "A friend of mine visits sometimes, but only when I'm in the area. I was planning on moving soon enough anyways." Tentrus raises a brow at this, tilting his head like a dog. "To where?" Vailynn reaches into his pocket, showing them the bounty poster. "Wherever I hear this guy is." He taps on the drawing of Zealious.

Yuulgen snorts. "You barely look twelve, you think you can handle _Zealious_?" He gets a hit on the shoulder from Tentrus, but Vailynn just laughs. "I'm fifteen, but no, I'm not too confident that I could fight him. I wasn't really planning on it, anyways." Tentrus gains another curious face, Yuulgen mumbling about how short the boy is.

"And what _do_ you plan on doing?" He asks, so many emotions on his face that Vailynn can't even keep track of. The boy smiles, but no one but Finnian can tell. "Chat with him." He says simply. Yuulgen rolls his eyes. "You'll get yourself killed." He grumbles, leaning back against the tree behind him. Vailynn makes a small 'tsk' between his teeth, crossing his legs. "No, he only will if I annoy him. If he kills specific people in a pattern, and doesn't just go breaking into random houses and killing people, then I'm sure he wouldn't kill me just for talking to him."

It's quiet after the explanation, a cocky grin wide on Vailynn's face that Finnian always loves to see. "He has a good point, actually." Tentrus mumbles, placing a hand on his chin in thought. Yuulgen scoffs, looking at Vailynn once more, though a hint of a smile is evident on him. "Okay kid, sure, but I'm sure _he_ wouldn't let you go alone." He says, nudging Tentrus, who chuckles, nodding.

Vailynn is quiet at the offer for a moment. Finnian hums from beside him. "I think we should let them! If you want, I'll let them see me as corporeal so that you don't feel socially suffocated. Vailynn snorts. "Okay, sure. I one hundred percent lied about being alone though, you have to meet Finnian." The men both look confused for a minute, before Finnian appears right beside Tentrus, making the man jump with a wobbly, startles noise. Yuulgen raises his brow, looking across from his companion to see a young shadow-like boy. He's wearing a simple dress shirt, leather pants and boots, with short, messy hair. He has no color to him, everything being slightly see through hues of grey and black, other than his bright red eyes, which are also see through.

"Hi!" Finnian says excitedly, waving at the men as he hovers back over to his companion. "What am I supposed to call you now that they don't know your name?" Finnian asks, the men across from them still silent in quiet shock. "I don't know, insults?" Vailynn chuckles, as Finnian grins. "Okay bitch!" "Language!" Tentrus calls, making the shadow laugh.

After a little while longer of planning and introductions, the two men go back home, planning to meet up at this spot at dawn and begin to travel to the neighboring forest that Zealious was last spotted in.

"I think this will be fun." Finnian says as Vailynn settles next to a wolf for warmth in his cave. He's named the wolf 'Bartholameu', solely to laugh as Finnian struggles to say it every time.

Vailynn hums at what the shadow had said, nodding. "Yeah, I'm gonna have a shitty time trying to get used to the new people though." He says, closing his eyes tiredly. Before falling asleep, he hears Finnian hum quietly at his words, and feels the shadow pat his head before he's passed out.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After meeting up with their new friends, the travelers come upon something incredibly unpleasant. Questions arise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> While I'm pretty sure only three people have even read this thing, I'm starting to get really into it. I hope it can gain some sort of popularity in the future!

Vailynn cracked an eye open to the distant sunlight rising over the hills, Bartholameu having left before he woke up. He shivers at the reminder of the warmth he fell asleep with, but he'll live.

As he stood up, brushing off his cloak, Finnian looks up at him, smirking. "Are you excited for our new adventure?" He asks, hovering above Vailynn and resting his arms on the shorter boy's head, much to his distaste. "I guess. I'm not too excited about Tentrus and Yuulgen being there, but I have a feeling Tentrus will not allow me to go anywhere without supervision." Vailynn snorts. It really is ironic, a man is so worried about a teenager, unbeknownst about the fact that that same teenager has killed hundred of people.

"He's like a dad. I like him." Finnian chuckles, following Vailynn out of the cave. The men had agreed on meeting up a little after sunrise, due to Yuulgen not wanting his little brother to guilt trip him into staying. Honestly, Vailynn would have been perfectly fine with that outcome. As much as he knows he could probably take on Yuulgen, the man is incredibly intimidating. He acts as if he's been around for centuries, and he doesn't ever react to anything like you would expect.

They travel in silence, a bird occasionally landing on his shoulder and nudging him as if to say farewell. Vailynn's footsteps are light, Finnian's nonexistent, as they get closer to the clearing, Tentrus and Yuulgen already standing there with travel bags on their back and their armor once again adorned. Tentrus smiles at the boys, Yuulgen just grunting. "Good morning you two, have you got everything you need?" Tentrus's eyes squint at the lack of anything Vailynn is carrying, other than an iron broadsword that one would definitely not think a boy his size could handle.

The sword is a shiny light grey, a stripe of red going up the sides of the metal. The handle is made of darkwood, lighter brown leather rapping around it to help with grip. It's a beautiful sword, really. Finnian had looted it off of one of his meals, and was just as surprised to find how easily Vailynn could handle it. When asked, Vailynn just shrugged, saying it came naturally. Of course, Finnian was not at all satisfied with this answer, but he didn't push.

"Yes, we have anything. Finnian only feeds off people, and I was never really one to stash things. We can easily find food as we go." Yuulgen gives Finnian a look at the news of his diet, to which Finnian holds his hands up, as if he was surrendering to someone. "Don't worry, I only ever eat someone if they're already dead or if they're just a shit person." Tentrus mutters something about the shadow's use of curses, and he just laughs a little.

As they begin walking, Yuulgen focuses his attention to the boy in red to his right. "So, how come you have such a large sword? I highly doubt you're any good with it, taking in your size." Vailynn sighs, deeply. It's always about the size. He shrugs. "I can use it, actually. have a dagger on my belt though, which I use for quiet attacks and hunting, the broadsword is just for actual battles. Don't ask me how I can use the sword, I genuinely don't have an answer for you." Yuulgen blinks, humming as he looks forward again.

Tentrus, on the other hand, looks at the boy worriedly. "Who would attack you?" The thought of someone attacking a child obviously makes Tentrus upset, if the look on his face says anything. Vailynn is quiet for a minute, trying to think of an answer that won't make the other men think, or know, that he kills people. "Well, when a guy sees a little boy running around in the woods with valuable on him, they're bound to think he's stolen something. Sure, maybe I have stolen some food or water here and there, but nothing like riches or money." He yawns, as if this were old news to him. That has happened before, really, so he's technically not lying.

"And you killed him? Instead of convincing him?" Yuulgen levels him with a glare, Tentrus placing a hand on his companion shoulder. "Well, actually I killed him." Finnian points out, raising a hand as if he wouldn't be noticed. Yuulgen then looks at him instead, but Finnian doesn't seem scared of the man. "I was incredibly starved at the time, I can only go a week without eating at least, and I'll admit, I'm kind of protective of this little guy." The shadow pats Vailynn's head, to which he grumbles about how they're only a year apart.

"So when I come back from the cave to see some dude attacking him, obviously I kill the guy." Yuulgen hums, looking at them both, before sighing. "Yes, that does make sense." He says, slight defeat edging into his voice, but not enough to change it from it's normal monotone. Tentrus looks to Finnian. "When was the last time you ate? We don't want you going hungry on us." He says it with such a fatherly voice that Finnian almost wants to hug the guy, but he holds it back, smiling at the English man. "Don't worry, I ate three days ago. Scum bag was trying to kill Bartholameu." Vailynn snorts, placing a hand over his cloak, where his mouth would be.

Tentrus squints, confusion on his face. "Who?" Yuulgen asks for him, though not as confused looking as his fellow knight. "He's a wolf that stops by a lot. He's nice, sometimes keeps me warm at night." Tentrus hums, the group then settling into a silence as they continue. Finnian pauses, sniffing the air. "Speaking of dogs. What do ya smell, bud?" Vailynn jokes, to which Finnian smacks the back of his head. "I'm not a fucking dog, bitch." "Language!" Tentrus interjects. Finnian ignores him, looking to his right, where the smell is coming from. "I smell blood, lots of it. May be a corpse, but it's still flowing." The group pauses.

"Well let's go then!" Vailynn says, and the adults do in fact take notice in the excitement in the boy's tone as the shadow leads them to the source of the smell. Vailynn sees the tip of a boot sticking out of some shrubbery, and he points it out to the two adults, who carry the body out of it. The man is still live, but he seems to be barely hanging on. "What happened, son?" Tentrus asks in a gentle voice, crouching next to the dying man while holding his hand. The man's breaths are shaky, and he has a terrified look on his face.

He coughs up some blood, and it's then that Vailynn notices what seems to be a bite mark taken out of his side. He points at it, everyone else noticing it with conflicted looks. Well, except Yuulgen. Yuulgen looks impassive to all of this, unsurprisingly. "Ther- there was some type of- type of _beast_! I-it was huge, and it ha-had so- so many _limbs._ Oh _Gods_ the l-limbs." He chokes on his blood more, Tentrus having to sit the man up so he can breathe easier. "I-it said something about t-the Curdler- before it ran- please- please God you have to get out of he-" A black spike pierces through the ground, sticking out of the man's chest and killing him. Tentrus jumps, looking shocked as he gets up, stepping away from the body. The spike retracts, and the travelers feel tremors from the ground, loud, _loud_ footsteps making their way towards them.

Out of the trees comes a huge, black, mass of limbs and hands, no head to be seen. On the palm of each hands is either an eye or a mouth, blood pouring out of both, same with multiple cuts that are on the thing's multiple arms. All of the mouths open, speaking at once. "Ah, lookie what we have here!" It says with multiple, sing-song voices. None of the voices match up, each with different tones and pitches, some quite, some deafeningly loud.

It's terrifying, to put it shortly.

"You know, I was never one to believe in monsters, but this is pretty fucking terrifying." Vailynn mutters, Tentrus shushing him violently. The beast giggles, looking down at the boy with it's multiple eyeballs. They look contemplative for a moment, before widening considerably. "Oh! Oh my, oh my! I know you! You're the one that's been helping me feed! Thank you, thank you!" Finnian looks as a clawed finger pokes Vailynn's chest, before realization hits him. "Wait! You're a demon!" The shadow says excitedly, smiling at the demonic being in front of him.

Everyone blinks, the eyeballs making a disgusting, sticky noise as they do, and the demon focuses then on the shadow. "Yes! Are you the one that ate the bodies? I must say, I was quite confused when I saw so many souls around this kingdom but rarely any bodies." The beast's many voices take on an edge of disappointment, and it makes Tentrus and Yuulgen shudder, Tentrus more noticeable for obvious reasons. "Yes! I eat bodies!" Finnian sounds so proud of himself for some reason, and it's then that Vailynn realizes that if Finnian is a demon, he's probably just happy to see one of his own kind for once.

Tentrus clears his throat. "Uh, I'm sorry, but you said that this boy here has been giving you so many souls? Are you sure that those weren't from Zealious? Or the Curdler?" The demon pauses, it's eyes slowly training in on Vailynn, who shakes his head. The demon straightens up a little, however that works with it's distorted body. "Aaahh! I see what's going on here." Vailynn sighs. "Okay okay, someone here must know that I am a sucker for telling secrets, so I'm going to need a deal here." Tentrus looks confused, Vailynn faking confusion as well as Tentrus looks at him.

Finnian and Vailynn make eye contact, and Finnian nods, becoming invisible to the two adults, not allowing them to hear him anymore. "Listen, I'm sure that you've realized that Vailynn here _is_ the Curdler." The demon hums. "But, we'll get you more souls if you just don't tell anyone. If Vailynn dies, I really don't want to be the next demon known for going on a rampage."

This makes the demon look at the boy with some type of sympathy in its many eyes, but it hums again. "Okay!" Finnian reappears next to Vailynn, the demon waving with all of it's hands. "It was a pleasure meeting you, hunter. Next on the list is the Curdler!" The demon's many mouths smile mischievously before it's gone in, quite literally, a puff of smoke.

It's quite for a minute, Yuulgen turning to Finnian. "What did you tell it?" He asks, obviously trying not to look at the massive puddle of blood the demon left in it's wake. "I don't know who he was talking about when it came to secrets, but I just guilt tripped him into letting me and V-" He pauses, Vailynn glaring at him. "Bastard boy over here-" A sigh. "-get him more souls. He didn't specify a time or amount, so we're just gonna go like normal." He shrugs, and the older men both look relived.

"One thing's for sure though, one of you two have something you're hiding." Tentrus says in a chastising voice, putting his hands on his hips like a disappointed mother. He really is just the walking definition of a parental figure. Finnian and Vailynn look at each other. Finnian nods, and Vailynn looks at his boots, contemplating. "Do you both know of the boy that died two years ago? Lynn?" 


End file.
